Just a few years ago it seemed like everyone loved Elon Musk. He is advancing technology in ways that nobody else could really even dream of, he has made great strides in space exploration and perhaps could be single-handedly responsible for expansion in that realm and be the pioneer of getting us further than the moon with manned exploration, and he revolutionized the auto-industry in a way that the "green people" definitely wanted.
He was Time magazine's person of the year in 2021 and here we are, just a few years later and it seems like everyone on the left, or nearly everyone absolutely hates the guy and does everything they can to try to bring him down and celebrate anything that goes a tiny bit wrong in his professional and personal life.
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Now I will admit that I do not hang out with many liberals. This isn't because I am going out of my way to not have people around me with different opinions, that isn't the case at all and for the most part if people want to hang out with me they have to understand my rule of "no politics at the table." I have a bunch of liberal friends from college and a few here locally but my part of the world is primarily conservative and therefore most of the people I interact with also are. There is no other reason.
But when I do hang out with my liberal friends and so much as even mention Musk or anything related to Musk they roll their eyes in what is evidently a deeply-rooted hatred. I also found that these same friends have the same opinion of Joe Rogan but everyone loved that guy too until they were apparently told not to. Perhaps it was the Ivermectin thing? I have no idea.
But these days online I see that people on the left will jump all over anything that seems even remotely like a hiccup in his life and celebrate it publicly such as this one.
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The people in the comments could barely contain their glee as they were applauding his "downfall" even though they don't really seem to understand that this is a drop in the company value of Tesla, not his own personal wealth. I am willing to bet the farm that Musk will not be filing for unemployment benefits just yet.
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When the Space-X rocket catch was successful on the first try not too long ago people on the left were quick to dismiss this as a non-issue and some of the more unhinged ones used this as a time to decry that the money "wasted" on this sort of thing would be much better used to help the less fortunate of the world as if that was something that Space-X or Musk is charged with doing for some reason. This was an amazing accomplishment yet the left treats it as if it is a bad thing. Their hatred for this man seems to be very widespread and of course I know that much of it has to do with the fact that he supports Trump and doesn't tow the line with all the other elites in bashing Donald around the clock.
Musk is immune to cancellation though and people refusing to purchase Tesla cars or whatever doesn't have a massive impact on his own personal wealth. I am not a fan of e-cars and will not purchase one since they are completely impractical for my business, but I do recognize that they are a pretty amazing technological advancement and if that is your thing, then go for it!
I think the hatred comes from his alignment with Trump, this much is obvious but even before that they started to hate him because he bought Twitter and removed a great deal of the censorship that was going on there. He also wouldn't cower to the leftist media when they attempted to accuse him of spreading "hate speech" by not censoring things that hurt people's feelings. I think he handled this question wonderfully when he said "if what they are posting isn't illegal, we will not remove it" in an interview with Don Lemon. He calmly stated to a clearly rattled Lemon that in order to have free speech, you have to allow things that you don't want to hear as well, otherwise there is no point. I don't see how any rational human being can disagree with that sentiment.
So the lefties would prefer that we DO have censorship? Or are they just pissed that the community notes section allows any misleading claim on social media to be debunked in real time? Are they upset that the lies that are told by popular figures can be quickly rebutted where in the past only information from certain viewpoints were allowed?
That is the way it seems to me. I see no reason, despite Elon's always shifting political stance, to really dislike this guy. If there is a leftist out there that would care to explain to me the hatred in a calm and sane manner I would love to hear your take on this because I just don't get it.
The man built the first successful EV business, massively reduced the cost of space travel, and fought (some kinds of) censorship.
But he was born with wealth, made lots of money, and refused to silence some people who hold ideas the left dislikes. Also, he's a weirdo, and that's bad outside the LGBTQIA+ADHD identitarian crowd.
All he did was change the target of censorship. Now, it’s accounts on the left that are being shadowbanned, having their accounts suspended, and having the algorithm tweaked to weaken their reach.
Sure, he owns it and as a centralized platform he can do whatever he wants with it. But by no means is he acting as a champion of free speech.
Yeah, though. A big part of the hate is his overt support for Trump.
Are they being shadow banned, or did the uncovering of bot farms and algorithm favoritism just bring reality in to focus regarding assumed popularity and engagement levels? Also, the left has been denouncing twitter since Musk bought it, reducing organic engagement for their factions.
It is amazing how people chop and change their views on someone as all Elon did was openly support Trump. He has not changed as an individual and he is just not woke which actually makes him more likeable in my view.